


Sick Day

by Jade4813



Category: Lois Lane: Fallout - Gwenda Bond, Smallville
Genre: Drabble, F/M, prompt request
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-30
Updated: 2015-07-30
Packaged: 2018-04-12 03:46:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,210
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4464281
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jade4813/pseuds/Jade4813
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lois is home sick, so she and Clark share a date...in a manner of speaking.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sick Day

**Author's Note:**

> Another response to a drabble prompt from Tumblr. For those who don't know, Gwenda Bond is working on the sequel to Fallout and I cannot WAIT.
> 
> Edit: It was recommended I cross-post this under Smallville as an AU. I do always think of Gwenda's Lois as a slightly younger version of Smallville's Lois. This is an AU set in the Fallout universe. (For those who haven't read Fallout, she meets Clark over the computer and doesn't know it's him. Also, you should read it because it's absolutely wonderful.)

“All right; it’s time for me to go in. You start behaving yourself or Lois is going to be very disappointed in you.” I tried to give Nellie my most serious ‘I mean business’ glower, but her nonchalant chewing made it clear she wasn’t particularly worried. For good cause. Nellie Bly took after the woman who named her - she had a tendency to perform inexplicable jail breaks. We’d find her hours later, exploring the fields. 

I considered whether I could come up with a more effective chastisement, but Shelby – who had been curled up next to the rebellious cow – jumped to her feet and let out a little woof, interjecting her opinion into the conversation. “I know Lois would be proud of her, but for the record, you’re not helping,” I grumbled in response before I made sure the stall was securely latched and headed back to the house. Shelby was enamored enough of her bovine friend to spend most of her nights in the barn, but I was confident I’d hear when she got restless and wanted to come up to the house.

I hurried to my room, trying not to race enough to draw Mom and Dad’s attention but definitely eager to get to the computer. Lois should be home any minute now, and I wanted to catch her if she came online. My friendship with her – such as it was – wasn’t entirely clandestine. Mom and Dad knew that I had a friend I talked to, since I’d asked them to let me tell her my secret. But I don’t think they knew how often I talked to her – or how important she’d become to me. I wasn’t sure I was ready for that conversation.

But my parents would be busy for the next couple of hours, going over the bills spread out over the kitchen table. I could talk to Lois for a while without interruption – the thought made me smile. I was still grinning when I made it to my room, slid into my desk chair and booted up the computer. 

I typed the address to our private chat so quickly, I had to wait for the computer to catch up. But once it did, I found that she had gotten there ahead of me.

 **SmallvilleGuy:** _Hey! I was just out in the barn, checking on Nellie Bly. She says hi, by the way – at least, I imagine that’s what she would say. It’s not like I carry on one-sided conversations with her or anything. Did you get off from the Planet early?_

 **SkepticGirl1:** _Ugh. I wish. I actually came on here hoping to catch you early so that I could give you my last will and testament now, before it’s too late. My time is near. I can feel it._

I would be alarmed, but it was so over-the-top, it was a little hard to take her fatalism seriously.

 **SmallvilleGuy:** _What’s wrong?_

 **SkepticGirl1:** _I’m sick. I’m dying. … Okay, it’s a head cold. But I could swear I’m dying._

I tried to choke back my laughter. I couldn’t believe the same girl who ran unblinking into the face of danger was completely obliterated by a simple cold. I doubted she’d take it well if I pointed as much out to her, however. Instead, I figured it was a good time to change the subject.

 **SmallvilleGuy:** _So you’re staying in? Is Lucy being nice to you, at least?_

 **SkepticGirl1:** _She’s out, actually. She’s with my parents at some work-thing for my dad. I think they all figured that, in my incapacitated state, I’d be less likely to get into trouble, left to my own devices, than I normally would. I really want to prove them wrong, but…did I mention I’m dying?_

 **SmallvilleGuy:** _It might have come up._

I started to tell her that I wished I could be there with her. I would get her hot tea and chicken noodle soup and a blanket to curl up in. But if I told her that, she’d almost certainly catch on to my feelings for her. At the very least, she’d want to know why I still wasn’t able to tell her my secret. Since I couldn’t tell her my secret and I couldn’t tell her why, it was just better if she didn’t realize how much she meant to me.

I tried to think of something to help take her mind off her apparently imminent demise, but Lois was apparently ahead of me.

 **SkepticGirl1:** _I’m bored. Want to watch a movie together?_

My fingers hovered over the keys as I read and re-read her words. What did she mean, watch a movie together? She couldn’t possibly know about my superhuman speed, could she? Surely she’d have said something sooner if she’d figured me out.

I didn’t know if I was relieved or a little disappointed when her next message came in a moment later.

 **SkepticGirl1:** _If you have video streaming, we can pick a movie and watch it at the same time and make snarky comments back and forth to each other like we’re in the same room. I mean, it won’t be the same since I won’t be able to annoy you by stealing the popcorn, but those of us on our death beds can’t afford to be picky._

I snorted; she was laying it on pretty thick. But even though it meant I’d have to take my computer into the living room – risking parental interruption – I had to admit, the suggestion was tempting.

 **SmallvilleGuy:** _Okay, well…since it sounds like this is your last request, I guess you should get to pick the movie._

 **SkepticGirl1:** _Hm. How about Men in Black? It’s a classic!_

I winced. A movie that reveals aliens walk among us, unknown to the world? That hit a little close to home. Not to mention the larger plot about another group of aliens trying to destroy the world. Not that I was a walking cockroach or intent upon world domination, but…if Lois ever did find out my secret, that wasn’t exactly the first picture I wanted to come to her mind.

 **SmallvilleGuy:** _I think alien movies tend to be a bit over-the-top, don’t you? Why don’t we watch something totally new, something neither of us has seen?_

She didn’t answer for a couple of minutes, making me wonder if I’d upset her by shooting down her suggestion. But, much to my relief, she finally responded.

 **SkepticGirl1:** _Okay, I found the perfect movie! Sharkosaurus Rex! “Half dinosaur. Half shark. All awesome.” Yes, that is the tag line. I have realized my life will not be complete until I have seen this movie. I couldn’t pick a better dying wish._

That…couldn’t possibly be a real movie. Could it? I had to call her bluff.

 **SmallvilleGuy:** _I’m pretty sure you made that up._

 **SkepticGirl1:** _I didn’t! Check it out for yourself! Body of a Tyrannosaurus Rex, head of a Great White Shark. The promo poster for it even has it roaring. I’m not kidding. “ROAR!” is written right next to its mouth. It’s AMAZING._

 **SmallvilleGuy:** _How is a shark roaring? I don’t think sharks even make sounds, do they?_

 **SkepticGirl1:** _THIS IS WHY I HAVE TO SEE THIS MOVIE! I have so many unanswered questions right now. Like…who thought putting these two things together was a good idea? Sharks and T-Rexes aren’t good enough murder machines on their own? I MUST KNOW._

I laughed. Honestly, it sounded like possibly the worst movie ever made to me, but she seemed genuinely excited by this premise. And, little did she know, I couldn’t really deny her anything.

Other than my secrets, I remembered with a wince.

 **SmallvilleGuy:** _All right; you win. Give me a minute. I have to change rooms._

It took a couple of minutes, actually, to get everything in order – including the popcorn that Lois declared was an absolute necessity in any movie night. When the time finally came for the movie to start, it didn’t take long for me to regret this choice. The movie was absolutely awful, and it was only ten minutes in.

Lois, on the other hand, seemed to love it. Or at least she seemed to love hating it.

 **SkepticGirl1:** _Wait…that’s the only explanation I’m going to get for why this killing machine was made? Because science?_

 **SmallvilleGuy:** _What did you expect?_

 **SkepticGirl1:** _I expected them to make up a pseudo-scientific explanation! Not ACTUALLY use the quote, “Because science!”_

 **SmallvilleGuy:** _I’m sorry…if you’re not enjoying this, we could pick something else?_

 **SkepticGirl1:** _Are you kidding? It’s even worse than I expected! IT’S AMAZING!_

I choked back a laugh. There was a pretty good chance I would never understand why this was a good thing.

 **SmallvilleGuy:** _Why is this guy taking his teenage daughter with him to the island with the shark/dinosaur hybrid? How can she get extra credit for a school report if the whole project is top secret and she won’t be able to tell anyone about it?_

As I expected, she admonished me for over-thinking things, but my lack of enthusiasm didn’t seem to diminish hers at all.

 **SkepticGirl1:** _Well, I guess we’re looking at the Sharkosaurus’s first victims. These people deserve to be eaten. Who sneaks into a giant murderbeast’s enclosure for a make-out session?_

 **SmallvilleGuy:** _Beats me. I’m still trying to figure out how the Sharkosaurus – who has visible gills – can breathe on land._

 **SkepticGirl1:** _Hm. I think it’s supposed to have both gills and lungs._

 **SmallvilleGuy:** _“Oh, no! Not like this!” Were those REALLY his last words?? That’s terrible writing!_

 **SkepticGirl1:** _Be fair. I can’t think of too many worse ways to go. Can you?_

Admittedly I couldn’t, but then I wouldn’t have been in that position in the first place. I actually got distracted for a couple of minutes, wondering if a half-dinosaur, half-shark would be able to hurt me. As far as I knew, I was pretty impenetrable, but it wasn’t like my parents were too eager to test my limits. But, of course, it was hardly something I could bring up to Lois.

 **SkepticGirl1:** _“We’re all a bunch of…of mad scientists!” That was remarkably self-aware of her, wasn’t it?_

 **SmallvilleGuy:** _I think that’s the worst line delivery I’ve ever heard._

But as bad as it was, over the next half hour – and against my will, I had to admit – I actually started to enjoy myself. Although that probably had more to do with the fact that Lois’s enthusiasm was infectious.

 **SmallvilleGuy:** _“It escaaaaaaaaaaped!” That was a little melodramatic._

 **SkepticGirl1:** _Did he really just ask her what escaped? What do you THINK escaped, you nitwit? Your brain cells? Anyway, nothing is melodramatic when it comes to an enormous deathbeast escaping._

She seemed to be having fun coming up with new names for it. I preferred to call it Sharky.

 **SmallvilleGuy:** _I think they were trying to hint at the terrifying possibility of a sequel._

 **SkepticGirl1:** _You misspelled “absolutely amazing in every way.”_

 **SmallvilleGuy:** _My hand must have slipped._

 **SkepticGirl1:** _I forgive you. But you can’t keep your secret from me forever. I know you’re actually enjoying this._

 **SmallvilleGuy:** _You can’t prove that._

I laughed at her teasing, but I winced a little, as well. I didn’t think she’d meant to remind me that we both knew I had a secret I was keeping from her – though of course she didn’t know how big of a secret it actually was. At the memory of how much I was keeping from her, I sat back with a sigh. I wished this could be easier. There was so much I wanted to tell her, but my parents were right – as much as I trusted Lois, I couldn’t take the chance.

Still, I hoped a day would come when I’d be able to tell her about me. I’d pictured the scenario a hundred different ways – how I’d tell her, how she’d react. I liked to think that she’d handle it pretty well. I certainly didn’t think that she’d be too freaked out by my abilities. But the fact that I was an alien? I told myself she would be okay with it, but I’d had too many nightmares where people turned against me when they found out what I was. I wanted to think that I wasn’t telling her the truth because my parents weren’t ready for other people to find out about me, but maybe that’s because I didn’t want to consider that it was because I was also a little afraid.

I didn’t know what I’d do if I telling her the truth caused me to lose her. The thing was, Lois meant a lot to me. More, in fact, than I’d ever said out loud and certainly more than I’d ever told her. I’d wanted to keep my distance, but I couldn’t help it.

I was pretty sure I was falling in love with her. 

I was too lost in my thoughts to pay attention to the movie, but I shook myself out of my reverie when a message popped up on my screen.

 **SkepticGirl1:** _I have something to tell you, but I don’t know how. I think I’m in love with you. And I’m terrified._

My breath caught in my throat. What? She couldn’t be telling me…could she? I could barely believe it. I’d daydreamed more than a few times about her saying that to me…well, not in exactly those words. But I’d hoped my feelings weren’t entirely one-sided. Still, her confession seemed a little too good to be true. 

I wanted to tell her how I felt, but since I still couldn’t tell her the truth about me, I knew that wouldn’t be very. Very slowly, uncertain what I should do, I typed my response.

 **SmallvilleGuy:** _What?_

 **SkepticGirl1:** _What, that wasn’t the worst line delivery YOU’VE ever heard? It was like she forgot the line halfway through. Although I’ve never heard anyone pronounce love like “larve” before, so that was special._

I blew out an incredulous laugh. The movie. Of course. “Idiot,” I chided myself under my breath as I forced my attention back to the television screen.

 **SmallvilleGuy:** _Oh. I missed that line. I was refilling my popcorn._

I felt a little guilty for the little white lie, but I could hardly tell her I’d been tuning out the movie as I thought about my feelings for her.

The text at the bottom indicated she was typing, but nothing came through. I watched, my hands hovering over the keyboard, as she stopped, typed something else, and then stopped again. I felt like I should say something, but I didn’t know what. After two interns and an unsuspecting dog got eaten without a word from her, I couldn’t take it anymore.

 **SmallvilleGuy:** _I was just confused because you didn’t put quotes around it and I didn’t catch that scene. I’m sure the acting was terrible. Though I may have become numb to bad acting at this point._

 **SkepticGirl1:** _Oh. Yeah! I know! It was totally a quote though!_

Now I felt like an even bigger idiot. I’d been freaking out that she didn’t respond, but I knew she wasn’t feeling well. Maybe she’d just taken a break from the computer to get some medicine. 

**SkepticGirl1:** _I mean, come on. I love you and I’m terrified? That doesn’t sound like me at all!_

I started to type, but her next few messages came in too quickly for me to interject.

 **SkepticGirl1:** _I would never just throw it out there like that._

 **SkepticGirl1:** _I mean, not in those words._

 **SkepticGirl1:** _Over text._

 **SkepticGirl1:** _If I was confessing my love._

 **SkepticGirl1:** _Which I wasn’t._

 **SkepticGirl1:** _Because I was just making fun of the movie._

She started typing again, so I had to jump in quick before she cut me off again. 

**SmallvilleGuy:** _Oh._

The line at the bottom of the window cleared and then, after the rampaging monster on the screen had had sufficient time to take out a fisherman on a boat, I got her reply.

 **SkepticGirl1:** _Yeah._

I could have smacked myself. I’d let myself believe for a moment that she might actually have returned my feelings, and she’d picked up on the fact I was acting like an idiot and now things were awkward. I had to fix this. 

I could have sworn I was going to type something reassuring and then smoothly change the subject, but somehow, that’s not what happened.

 **SmallvilleGuy:** _I never thought you were saying that to me, of course._

My hands hovered over the keyboard, ready to type the smooth conversational segue that would get us out of this. Absolutely nothing came to mind.

 **SkepticGirl1:** _Of course not! I mean, that would be weird, right? I don’t even know your name, and here I am, confessing my undying love for you? Come on!_

I watched an unfortunate, unnamed extra attacked the ravenous beast with a baseball bat and got his head eaten off for his trouble. I almost envied him a little in that moment.

 **SmallvilleGuy:** _Exactly._

 **SkepticGirl1:** _So…_

I waited for her to type more, but she didn't. I latched on to the most ludicrous scene I could remember from the last few minutes to change the subject.

 **SmallvilleGuy:** _So..._

 **SmallvilleGuy:** _I'm surprised you didn't say anything about Sharky killing that guy with the chainsaw earlier. He actually took it from the guy. And then killed him with it. Because why not?_

Her response came so fast, I almost had to wonder if she had super speed.

 **SkepticGirl1:** _Oh, yeah. That was totally ridiculous. How did he even wield the chainsaw with his little T-Rex arms? And what writer looked at the mouth full of a bajillion teeth and thought, "Not an awesome enough way to die"? Did you notice this guy’s trying to kill it with a claw hammer? It has a jaw wide enough to swallow that stupid intern whole earlier, but it’s no match for his tiny little claw hammer!_

I knew I should respond with something witty, but my heart wasn’t really in it. I had to try, though, or things would probably get even weirder between us.

 **SmallvilleGuy:** _He’s strengthened with the power of righteousness._

 **SkepticGirl1:** _At least she’s coming in with a blowtorch. I like her style._

 **SmallvilleGuy:** _I’m not even going to think about you setting stuff on fire._

 **SkepticGirl1:** _That was an ACCIDENT! I told you that!_

With a shake of my head, I pushed my feelings aside as I always did and tried to concentrate on being her friend – which was all I could offer her at the moment and probably all she wanted from me, anyway.

Maybe one day, I’d be brave enough to tell her the truth about myself, what I could do, and how I felt about her. Until then, I’d continue to hide behind a computer screen. Because the truth was, I was falling in love with her and that absolutely did terrify me a little.

As the end credits started to roll, I messaged her again.

 **SmallvilleGuy:** _Hey, I think there is a sequel to this. If you survive the plague, you want to catch it together sometime?_

 **SkepticGirl1:** _It’s a date, Smallville._


End file.
